Chemistry
by Panja Mysy
Summary: Hanji knew from the moment she met Moblit Berner that he was different than other people, they had a special kind of chemistry. A Hanji x Moblit Friendship and Relationship longfic!


**It has come to my attention that there is not enough Moblit x Hanji content out there and it is my second favorite ship in the SNK universe (I am Petruo trash first and foremost!). I decided to take a page from my favorite Fanfiction author(ess), cellostargalactica, and take a long look into the past I imagine these two have (although I could never compare to her masterpiece, The Sunlight Girl, nor can I hope to come close to having as incredible a writing style!).**

 **This world needs more Moblit x Hanji and so this is my gift to the ship and the SNK fandom.**

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Hanji Zoe was ten years old when she first met Moblit Berner.

It was the first day of a new school year and Hanji had the unfortunate burden of being the "new kid" in the class, a burden she knew well but could never quite get used to. Her father's job required their family to pick up and move quite often so she was getting used to being dragged around the small world within the walls every time her father's science teacher skills were needed in various cities and villages. This was move number five in her short lifetime, to the District of Klorva on the west side of Wall Rose, and she was dreading walking into her new class and having to stand in the front and introduce herself again.

Hanji knew she was different, the children all seemed to take pleasure in cruelly reminding her, she was lanky and thin, very tall for her age, her dark brown hair was thick and wild and the glasses she wore on her face made her chocolate brown eyes look buggy and oversized behind the thick lenses. She wore pants instead of dresses and skirts like most girls her age and button down shirts instead of frilly blouses. She was unique and eccentric even at her tender age.

Hanji clutched her father's hand as he led her down the halls of the school to her classroom, she felt sick to her stomach and she let out a long, dramatic moan and clutched her belly with her free hand.

"Daddy, I don't feel good," she complained, tossing her head back and sticking her tongue out to further demonstrate her miserable state, "My tummy is upset."

"That's just because you're nervous, honey," her father assured her, "As soon as you get settled into your class and make some friends you'll feel better."

"Daddy, the kids never want to be my friend," Hanji stated, not sounding sad or disappointed, just matter of fact.

"I have a feeling this place will be different, Hanji," her father said kindly, giving his daughter a bright smile as they stopped outside the classroom door. Hanji could hear the voices of kids her age coming from behind it and the sound of an adult female voice she assumed was her new teacher. Her father squatted down in front of her, his hands moving around her as he straightened out her shirt and tried to tame her crazy hair a little, he took her glasses and wiped them down then replaced them on her face. "You're perfect just the way you are. If they dislike you for who you are, it's better than having them like you for someone you're not. Remember, your real friends are the ones who accept you just as you are, at your best and your worst."

Hanji nodded, but felt a bit doubtful. She had yet to find someone like this.

"Are you ready to go in?" her father waited until she gave him a nod, straightening up and pulling her shoulders back in determination. She tried to maintain her confident stride and air as her dad opened the door and ushered her in, but as soon as the sea of eyes turned toward her she blushed brightly and ducked her head, her shoulders slumped forward and she felt like she might throw up from the anxiety that hit her like a wave.

"Hello," the teacher's voice sounded far too cheerful for Hanji's taste and she bit back the desire to curl her lip in annoyance and kept her head down instead, "You must be Hanji, my name is Miss Donaldson. Welcome to the class, dear. Would you like to come with me and get to know your classmates?"

Hanji gave her father a pleading glance, but he just nodded his head towards the desk where the teacher was waiting with her hand held out to her so she let out a little sigh and shuffled over to stand next to Miss Donaldson to commence with the usual ceremony.

"Class, this is Hanji, she'll be joining us this year," Miss Donaldson addressed the class and the class monotonously echoed back their empty hellos, "Make her feel welcome and let's make this year the best yet!"

Hanji looked over to the door to get some reassurance from her father once more before she was plunged into the proverbial lion's den but he had already taken his leave, and he left an empty space in Hanji's heart from his absence.

"Pick a seat, dear," Miss Donaldson told her kindly, "I need to go catch your father real quick and ask him a question. Class, I'll be right back."

Hanji watched in silent horror as the teacher walked away, leaving her standing awkwardly in front of the entire class. She scuffed the floor with her shoe and refused to look up for a long time until she felt even more stupid for just standing there while they all started to mutter about her. The words _weird_ and _crazy_ were already reaching her ears and she felt her muscles automatically bunch up as they prepared to kick into self preservation mode and cause her to run from the room. Tears began to well up at the corners of her eyes. She could literally feel the weight of their stares around her neck like a millstone and her shoulder slouched even more under the pressure.

"Hanji, you can sit next to me."

 _What?_ Had she heard that right? Someone had taken pity on her pathetic and depressing plight! She looked up shyly to see who had spoken and she knew immediately who it was because every other head in the room had turned to stare in disbelief at the individual.

It was a boy who had spoken, a boy with light brown hair that was combed impeccably to either side of his forehead, his light brown eyes were looking straight at her and she was surprised to see absolutely no judgment in them at all, just pure friendly invitation. He pointed at the desk to his right side and he nodded to assure her that it had been him who had made the invitation.

Hanji stumbled forward before she even realized she was doing so, drawn to the boy like a moth to a flame. He was like a sanctuary, a safe place in the terrifying surroundings of the classroom. As she slid into the seat next to him he gave her a genuine smile that made his eyes squint from how much he put into it.

"Thank you," she whispered, giving the boy a small smile in return.

"You're welcome," he replied easily, not even seeming to care that everyone was looking at them and whispering loudly among themselves about him and the new girl, "My name is Moblit."

"Hanji," she held out her hand quickly and immediately regretted it. _Idiot, don't stick your hand in his face like a giant dork!_

But Moblit just smiled again and accepted her hand in a firm shake, jostling her arm from the enthusiasm he put behind it.

"Hanji. That's a different kind of name."

"What kind of a weirdo name is Moblit?" Hanji immediately wanted to kick herself in the butt and her hand flew to her mouth in shame, her face flushed hotly in the shadow of self loathing. He was going to hate her now. Why would he want to be friends with someone so rude and weird?

"The kind my mom decided was a good idea for some reason," Moblit replied easily, his expression remained friendly and, in fact, he seemed amused and delighted by her awkward nervousness and big mouthed honesty.

Hanji was about to speak again but Miss McDonald came back into the room at that moment and called the class to attention and Moblit sat up straight in his seat, eyes forward and focused with a seriousness that Hanji had never seen the likes of before, like this class and this teacher's words were the most important things in his life, in the _world_. Moblit, Hanji decided then, was a very special kind of boy.

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Moblit sat at his usual desk in his usual classroom at the usual time...everything about this day promised to be the way a day at school usually was. He pulled out a book he'd brought with him from home, one with diagrams of muscles and bones and nerves and veins, and he silently began labeling them in his mind while he waited for their teacher to arrive. The classmates around him continued to talk and he answered back at the appropriate times when he was spoken to and laughed when he figured it was needed and smiled when necessary...he was good at this social game even though he had no desire to be among any of these people. His classmates were so dull and so average, they were all the same, caught up in silly endeavors that he deemed worthless in the grand scheme of things. None of them took school seriously and he was tired of having no one to hold an intelligent conversation with.

Miss Donaldson arrived at her usual time and gathered her papers up before she came around her desk to stand before the class, Moblit closed his book and slipped it into his desk and sat up straight to attention.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning!" Moblit's voice rose slightly above the rest from his genuine enthusiasm and he felt just a tiny flash of embarrassment when the boy in front of him turned slightly to look at who was so happy to be in school, like there was something shameful in being excited to learn.

"We are going to do things a little differently today," Miss Donaldson announced, "Today we are getting an new student. Her father is the new science teacher for the older classes."

Not even a heartbeat later, the door opened to reveal the mysterious new student to the curious class. Moblit cocked his head slightly at the appearance of the girl who walked bashfully into the room, she was much taller than the other girls their age, her hair was dark brown, very thick and stuck out wildly from her messy ponytail, she wore boy's clothes and she wore glasses that made her eyes look twice their normal size. She was a very funny looking girl and Moblit found himself wanting to laugh but he held it in and waited for the inevitable introduction.

"Class this is Hanji, she'll be joining us this year. Make her feel welcome and let's make this year the best yet!"

Miss Donaldson told Hanji to pick a seat and then she left the room to chase down her father, leaving the poor girl standing in front of her new classmates awkwardly. Moblit waited for her to pick a place to sit...but she didn't move, she hung her head and remained frozen near the teacher's desk and a bright embarrassed blush started to spread over her face. She kicked the floor with the ball of her foot and started to shuffle side to side as the students started to mumble.

"She looks so weird!" a girl behind him said and he saw Hanji's teeth clamp down on her bottom lip.

"Her hair is crazy!" another girl said, her voice full of disapproval . Hanji's head hung lower.

"Look at her bug eyes!" a boy said with a chuckle. Hanji's shoulders slumped further.

"She looks like a boy in those clothes!" yet another girl's voice.

Moblit watched in silent horror as Hanji's entire body started to cave in on itself, her shoulders hunching protectively inward as she took a tentative step back...she looked like a frightened animal and he knew by her body language that she was about to bolt out of the room. A glint in her eye told him she was about to cry as well. His heart squeezed uncomfortably and his mouth opened before his brain could even register what he was saying.

"Hanji, you can sit next to me."

There was a moment where he felt like he'd made a mistake and he wanted to take it back, but when her head came up and she met his eyes with such relief and hope, he knew he'd done the right thing and that he was glad he had spoken up. She strange new girl moved towards him almost like she was in a trance, her gaze totally focused on him and she barely blinked the whole time she walked down the aisle to the desk on his right. When she sat down he gave her an honest grin and the longer he looked at her, the wider and more genuine it got.

"Thank you," she whispered and she smiled for the first time...and Moblit decided he liked her smile a lot, it made her look like a different person.

"You're welcome," he told her easily, ignoring the odd looks his display of friendliness had earned him. He knew very well that the entire class was looking at him with judging eyes and disbelief, but he was too busy looking at Hanji to worry about it...he had a good feeling about her. "My name is Moblit."

Almost as soon as the words had left his mouth, Hanji's arm shot across the aisle between them, her hand open in an offer to seal their new acquaintance with a handshake.

"Hanji!" she said almost too loudly and he fought the urge to laugh at her enthusiasm. But her face fell and she started to pull her hand back, a blush creeping over her cheeks, so he quickly grabbed on to her hand tightly with his and shook it enthusiastically, maybe a little _too_ enthusiastically from the way her whole body wiggled from the force of it.

"Hanji. That's a different kind of name." he said, hoping that his statement didn't sound rude. He just had honestly never heard such a name and it was interesting; the way it felt on his tongue was new and he liked to say it, he discovered.

"What kind of a weird name is Moblit?" Hanji's quick reply caught him slightly off guard. Goodness, she was very blunt! But he realized it was nice to be able to speak so simply without pretense and hesitation...he was starting to enjoy her presence even more, it almost felt like she'd always been there, sitting at the desk next to him.

"The kind my mom decided was a good idea for some reason," he replied with a good natured eye roll.

He saw her mouth twitch but just as she opened it to speak again, the door of the classroom opened and Miss Donaldson walked in and took her place at her desk. Moblit put his finger to his lips to silence Hanji's next words and he pulled himself back into a straight upright position, his attention focused totally on the front of the room as Miss Donaldson laid out the day's lesson plan on the chalkboard behind her.

His eyes may have been focused on his teacher, but Moblit's mind was focused on something else entirely...an awkward, crazy haired girl named Hanji.

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 **Here is the beginning, friends!**

 **I hope you love these two as much as I do :)**

 **Welcome aboard this tiny, yet perfect, ship!**


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